Structure from motion (SfM) is a range imaging technique for estimating three-dimensional (3D) structures from two-dimensional (2D) image sequences from a single camera. Because it can recover 3D information from a single, inexpensive camera, it can be a cost-effective solution as compared to stereo imaging systems or range sensors like lidar or automotive radar. SfM can also increase the robustness of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) while working in tandem with other sensors, such as radar, to provide automatic emergency braking (AEB).
Triangulation methods may be used to find the 3D locations of points in space from 2D positions gleaned from images captured from a camera with known pose and calibration information. Camera pose information relates to a camera's rotation and translation from a fixed origin. Camera calibration information can define linear and nonlinear intrinsic camera parameters encompassing focal length, image sensor format, principal point, and lens distortion. SfM may rely on triangulation to provide 3D points representative of distances to objects in a surrounding scene. The computations involved in performing triangulation can account for a significant fraction of the overall SfM compute cycle.
Single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) parallel computer processors use multiple processing elements to perform the same operation on multiple data points simultaneously.